In tonight’s 20-10 loss to the Carolina Panthers at slick, soggy Bank of America Stadium, Pierre-Paul keyed a solid performance from the Giants’ starting defense by showing the athletic ability that made him last year’s 15th overall pick and playing anything but “slow,” which is how he described his speed of play during his rookie season.

Pierre-Paul made three big impact plays — two sacks and a pressure on an interception — against two-time Pro Bowl left tackle Jordan Gross, making it clear the Giants might be in no desperate need to cave to any of Umenyiora’s demands or tactics.

“Jason did a heck of a job,” coach Tom Coughlin said. “He was very physical, he had the two sacks and he just missed another one. He was a penetrator, he was a force, he really enjoyed playing and I thought he gave us a real spark.”

Pierre-Paul began his big night by pushing Gross backward on a bull rush and into the face of Carolina quarterback Jimmy Clausen, who seemed to rush his throw a bit. Running back DeAngelo Williams hadn’t yet made a break on his route and didn’t see the ball as it sailed past his head and into the arms of linebacker Michael Boley, who returned it 56 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 Giants lead only four plays into the game.

On the next series, after nearly drawing a holding penalty (that probably should have been called) with a good rush, Pierre-Paul juked one way, then the other and then back again as Gross staggered to keep up. Pierre-Paul shed him with a powerful club move for a 9-yard sack of Clausen to force the Panthers to punt.

“He tried to cut me,” Pierre-Paul said, “and then I pump-faked inside and went outside.”

The only thing that came close to slowing Pierre-Paul down was a mini-scare when he tripped over Clausen at the end of a scramble on the next series and fell on his knee. He hit the ground briefly but jogged off and declined any attention from the team’s athletic trainers.

If there was any concern whether he was banged up, Pierre-Paul eased it when he fought through Gross, chased after Clausen and showed a quickness the average player doesn’t have when he leaped onto Clausen’s back for the sack.

Oh, and he did all of this in only one quarter of play against one of the best tackles in the league.

“It’s very encouraging, but at the same time I still have a lot more to learn on defense,” Pierre-Paul said. “It makes me feel better about myself and what I’m doing. I know what I’m doing. I’m not really thinking a lot. I’m just going straight to the ball.”

It wasn’t a perfect night for the defense, as the Panthers picked up a touchdown on three quick plays midway through the first quarter.

But as much as one player can make for a story in the preseason opener, Pierre-Paul was it.

“I wasn’t nervous,” he said. “I knew the play calls, and I caught on very well. I just felt good.”

While Pierre-Paul was soothing the heartburn over the Umenyiora situation, no one jumped out on offense to make the departures of Kevin Boss and Steve Smith seem like no big deal. Eli Manning (4-for-9 for 36 yards) was forced to take a check-down on a third-and-8 and misfired twice to Hakeem Nicks on the outside on third downs. In all, the Manning-led offense was 0-for-5 on third downs.

Obviously, the sample size is extremely small at this point, and Manning didn’t see wide-open tight end Jake Ballard up the middle of the field on one play, but if third downs continue to be an issue, the Giants will have to start thinking about a solution.

And no matter what, they need to get their reshuffled offensive line on the same page.

“Well, you don’t have a whole lot of time to be patient,” Manning said, adding: “Really, it’s just one new guy (center David Baas), but a veteran who knows what he’s doing.

“We just have to have more practice and get in more game-like situations.”